Because of its successful vaccination campaign, Israel is considered a model country in dealing with Corona worldwide.
But for about a week the numbers have been increasing again.
What does that mean for Germany?
Tel Aviv / Berlin - Germany has so far looked at Israel's successful vaccination campaign with a mixture of envy and fascination.
A good 55 percent of the 9.3 million Israelis are already vaccinated against the corona virus.
But for about a week, the number of new infections registered in the Mediterranean country has increased significantly.
Many got infected with the more aggressive Delta variant.
Hajo Zeeb from the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology in Bremen is concerned about developments in Israel. “It is indeed worrying,” says Zeeb, that, despite the high vaccination rate, “outbreaks are occurring again with a very effective vaccine”. Could that also flourish in Germany?
In mid-June, new corona infections were only registered in the single-digit range in Israel - nationwide. The government removed almost all restrictions. For many Israelis, it felt like the corona pandemic was a thing of the past. But around a week ago, more than 100 new infections per day were detected for the first time since April. On Thursday the reported number rose to 227. On Saturday it was 113, although significantly less was tested. In Germany, with around nine times as many inhabitants, the numbers in the past few days have ranged from several hundred to around 1000. The number of new infections per 100,000 people in seven days has been falling for weeks and was 5.7 on Sunday.
According to investigations by the Israeli Ministry of Health, around 90 percent of the newly infected have the more aggressive Delta variant - and around half are vaccinated.
The variant was first detected in India.
Most of those infected are children.
Warning of new outbreak in the country
On Friday, the government reintroduced the mask requirement in closed rooms.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett previously warned of a "new outbreak" of the coronavirus in the country.
The number of seriously ill initially remained stable and low at 26.
Why is the registered number of infected people suddenly increasing so significantly?
This is apparently mainly due to people who came back infected from abroad - and did not adhere to the quarantine requirements.
"Compliance with the quarantine is our Achilles heel," said Corona officer Nachman Asch to Israeli television.
"Quarantine breakers are the problem for all of us - this is how the disease is spreading right now."
He urged the population not to fly abroad if possible, especially not with unvaccinated children.
Several outbreaks in the past few days were tied to schools and hundreds had to be quarantined.
In addition, because of the overloading of test stations, thousands of people had left the airport untested on arrival.
Vaccination numbers stagnate
In Israel, more than 5.5 million of the nine million people living in the country have already received a first corona vaccination, around 5.2 million of them the second dose. The vaccine from Pfizer / Biontech is used. However, vaccination numbers have stagnated in the past few weeks. Parents were initially reluctant to vaccinate their 12- to 15-year-old children after there were cases of myocarditis related to the vaccination. Currently, more than 90 percent of those over 90 are vaccinated, but only around 20 percent of 10 to 19 year olds. With the number of new infections, the overall number of vaccinations is increasing. Prime Minister Bennett has clearly urged parents to vaccinate children of the appropriate age quickly.
In Germany, half a year after the start of the vaccination campaign, more than half of the people are vaccinated at least once, and over a third (34.8 percent) are even completely vaccinated, as data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Saturday show. According to the latest RKI figures, the delta proportion of infections is still small, but is increasing rapidly and was 15 percent in the second week of June.
In Israel, the high proportion of newly infected people who have been vaccinated raises questions.
Corona officer Asch simply attributes this to the fact that there are so many vaccinated people in Israel.
Vaccinated infected people can be expected.
According to studies, Delta has a significantly increased infectivity and a slight immune escape, i.e. the property to bypass protection after vaccination or infection.
But the message from the professional world is: Those who have complete vaccination protection are also protected from serious illness at Delta.
Protective measures in schools
In view of the situation in Israel, expert Zeeb from Bremen emphasizes that despite the progress in vaccination, protective measures such as aerosol filters and masks will have to continue in schools in Europe and Germany, as well as intensive testing. “On the other hand, it is also true that fortunately difficult courses are rare,” says Zeeb. "Nevertheless, one cannot wish for the infection to be 'rushed through' by the group of unvaccinated or previously uninfected people, because it leads to avoidable suffering and possibly also long-term consequences."
The RKI President Lothar Wieler said on Friday that one of the lessons learned from developments in countries like Israel is that one should not loosen up too early.
Vaccinations alone were not enough to protect Germany from an increase in the number of cases in autumn.
Simple measures such as wearing face mask are still necessary.
The vaccination expert at the Berlin Charité, Leif Erik Sander, said on Friday that he did not consider the development in Israel to be worrying, but rather instructive.
"Fortunately, we saw these effects of vaccination surprisingly early in Israel." Significant effects were already observed at a vaccination rate of around 50 percent.
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) in turn emphasized that Israel is a relatively young country compared to Germany. It shows the problem of an insufficient willingness to vaccinate in younger people who could actually be vaccinated. In this country too, the willingness to be immunized increases with age. He could only advertise to younger people to take advantage of the vaccination offer. Show Israel that too. dpa
